World peace is indeed possible”
2026 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Navanethem Pillay
(30 October 2026) (CH-S) Alfred de Zayas, Professor of International Law and History and a member of the Swiss Neutrality Council,1 pays tribute to this year’s award of the Nobel Peace Prize in his letter to the Nobel Prize Committee in Oslo.
He states that the selection of the laureate represents a necessary step towards restoring the award’s credibility.
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To the Nobel Peace Prize Committee
Henrik Ibsens gate 51
0255 Oslo Norway
postmaster@nobel.no
Geneva, 12 October 2026
Re: Navi Pillay
Dear members of the NPP Committee
The Swiss Neutrality Council welcomes your wise decision to award the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to Judge Navanethem Pillay,2 who is indeed a champion for peace and human dignity, a champion for civilization.
This year’s award honours not only Navi Pillay, but also all those who favour diplomacy over confrontation, who promote international law as the foundation of civilized society, who labour for peace and reconciliation in the world, who believe in human rights for all without privileges and double standards.
We consider the Nobel Peace Prize to be the most important of all Noble prizes, because it honours not only individual performance and achievement, but those human values that sustain civilization. Indeed, Peace is that fundamental human right that enables us to enjoy other civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. World peace is indeed possible. Undoubtedly the People want peace. Alas, some governments want war, because the military-industrial-financial-media-digital complex profit from conflict.
The Nobel Peace Prize (NPP) rests on a mindset that transcends materialism and reaffirms the spirituality of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Alfred Nobel’s will stipulates that the Nobel Peace Prize shall be awarded: ”to the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses.”
Alas, as we know from international commentators and the brilliant analysis of the Norwegian jurist Fredrik Heffermehl in his book “The Real Nobel Peace prize, A Squandered Opportunity to Abolish War”, gradually the NPP has been politicized in a manner inconsistent with Nobel’s will and conferred in past years to persons who can be qualified as war-mongers. This was a worrisome development.
Awarding the NPP to Navi Pillay constitutes a necessary step in reestablishing the credibility of the award and we congratulate you on this decision.
With kind regards
Alfred de Zayas
Prof. em. Dr. iur. et phil.
www.alfreddezayas.com
https://dezayasalfred.wordpress.com/
http://www.extempore.ch
1 Neutrality Council –The Swiss voice of International Law: The Neutrality Council comprises twelve experts in international law, neutrality, history, economics, politics, defence and the media. The Neutrality Council periodically issues scientific reports on topics relevant to international law. It expresses its views in a neutral manner and based on applicable international law. The Neutrality Council periodically issues scientific reports on topics relevant to international law. It expresses its views in a neutral manner and based on applicable international law. (https://neutralitaetsrat.ch/index.php/en/home-english/)
2 Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, born in 1941 in Durban (South Africa), is a South African lawyer, human rights expert and winner of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. She is regarded as a pioneer in the fight against apartheid and for international law:
In 1967, she opened her own law firm, where she defended political prisoners and victims of the apartheid regime. In 1995, following the end of apartheid, she was appointed as the first non-white judge at the High Court of South Africa. From 1995 to 2003, she was a judge and president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). It was here that she played a key role in the historic ruling which recognised systematic rape during war as a constituent element of genocide. From 2003 to 2008, she served as a judge in the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. From 2008 to 2014, she was entrusted with the leadership of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), where she campaigned vigorously worldwide against discrimination and torture and for the protection of minorities. From 2021 to 2025, she served as Chair of the independent UN Commission of Inquiry into violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territory and in Israel.